Leviathan Corp.filed a civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO)lawsuit against NBS Bros. ,an accounting firm.NBS asked the court to dismiss the case for two reasons: first,Leviathan did not allege,and cannot prove,that NBS is connected in any way with organized crime,as that term is customarily used;and second,Leviathan did not allege,and cannot prove,that NBS was criminally convicted of a predicate offense.Should NBS succeed with these arguments? Explain your reasoning.

NBS should not succeed with these arguments.Despite the reference to "Racketeer Influenced" in RICO's title,the Supreme Court has concluded that the broad language of the statute is not restricted in application to settings involving mobsters and organized crime in the usual sense.As for NBS's second argument,it too fails because the Supreme Court has held that the plaintiff in a civil RICO case is not required to prove that the defendant had been criminally convicted of a predicate offense.In 1995,Congress created an exception to this general rule by enacting a statute that required proof of a criminal conviction if the predicate offense was conduct that would have been actionable as securities fraud.Nothing in the facts of the question indicates that the conduct complained about in Leviathan's lawsuit would have been securities fraud.